HD Install :: Boot with alsa on HD install???



I am loving DSL!! Only distro I could get to work with this laptop. I just got this for free from a woman I work with! (Thanks Shurla)

I have a Compaq Armada 1585 DMT with a P1 148 mHz and 48 MB of ram.
I can't get my sound card to work!!!
Sound Card is ESS 1878
I know that after installing alsadebs with the myDSL utility, I have to boot with the "dsl alsa" boot command. How do I do this on a HD install? Do I need to edit a config file or what?

Any help is appreciated,
Matt
Matt,
I have an ESS es1879 soundcard in my Sony VAIO.
Don't worry about ALSA, just use the OSS audio drivers already in DSL.
ALSA drivers are more sophisticated and should be less resource-hungry for modern sound cards.  But there's little difference for old sound cards like the es18xx series.

Furthermore, boot parameters like "alsa=xxx" are more for live CD users.  On hard drive installs it makes more sense to save your hardware settings permanently in /etc/modprobe.conf.  Unfortunately, ALSA still won't work on hard drive installations without the aforementioned boot parameter (I know, I've tried it extensively) and this adds extra time to an already long bootup sequence.

So here's how to load the OSS driver manually - I learned this from a much older DSL post -
modprobe sb io=0x220 irq=5 dma=1 mpu_io=0x330 isapnp=0
modprobe opl3 io=0x388

Obviously, use irq & i/o settings correct for your Compaq.

But since you have a hard drive install, the more "correct" (Debian) way of achieving this OSS setup permanently is to create a sound module configuration file in /etc/modutils.  I suggest you call this file "sound" or "ess" or "sb" (es18xx cards are fully soundblaster compatible, so the OSS driver is "sb").  Here's what the file should contain -

alias sound-slot-0 sb
options sb io=0x220 irq=5 dma=1 mpu_io=0x330 isapnp=0
alias synth0 opl3
options opl3 io=0x388
# USE THIS NEXT LINE IF THE SOUND "STUTTERS"
# options sound dmabuf=1

Next run the command -
update-modules
This will add the information to the global driver file /etc/modprobe.conf
Reboot.  Enjoy.
Craig S
Thank you for the in-depth assistance. Only one question...
how do I get the irq and i/o settings??

Thanks again,
Matt
1. These settings should be listed in your bios.  My bios is accessed during bootup by pressing F2.
And while you're there, double check that the bios is set for "PnP OS = NO" - this is important for all Linux distributions.

or 2. run the command -
cat /proc/interrupts
Hopefully you will see an irq listed for "ES18xx"

or 3. just use trial and error - irq 5 and io 0x220 seem to be fairly standard.
First load the settings manually, as per my last post.  Try to play an mp3 file using mpg321.

or, since you already have ALSA installed ...
4. try to run -
alsaconf
This will autodetect your hardware settings and set up the ALSA configuration.  If it works, you're up and running with ALSA.  Your /etc/modprobe.conf file will then be similar to this -

alias snd-card-0 snd-es18xx
alias sound-slot-0 snd-es18xx
options snd-es18xx isapnp=0 dma1=1 dma2=0 irq=5 fm_port=0x388

It may still appear that sound doesn't work, because mixer settings are muted by default with ALSA. Run -
alsamixer
and unmute the master volume by pressing "m".
If you want to be able to play midi files, things get more complex.  You need to install an ALSA utilitly called "sbiload" which is used to load soundfonts into the opl3 hardware synthesizer of the ESS chip.
I have an older laptop, and just finished installing DSL onto it.  Specs are 233MHz w/64 MB RAM...I have wireless working too, and am posting from the laptop right now...

The problem now, is the sound doesn't work. I want to use XMMS to play an mp3 song but I get an error message about no having proper output config, or sound card configuration required.  

I did the command for IRQs, but don't see anything about a sound card... here is the output from the  command.
-------------------------------
          CPU0      
 0:     266777          XT-PIC  timer
 1:       1466          XT-PIC  keyboard
 2:          0          XT-PIC  cascade
 6:        119          XT-PIC  floppy
 8:          1          XT-PIC  rtc
10:          0          XT-PIC  usb-uhci
11:     842072          XT-PIC  Texas Instruments PCI1250, Texas Instruments PCI1250 (#2), ath0
12:      24845          XT-PIC  PS/2 Mouse
14:      10733          XT-PIC  ide0
15:         33          XT-PIC  ide1
NMI:          0
LOC:          0
ERR:          0
MIS:          0

----------------------------------

What tools/commands are available to help resolve the sound issue?

Thanks,
Fuzzhead
=8^)
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